Press release from Code for Asheville, shared Feb. 19:
Asheville CodeAcross 2014 event planned for Saturday
This event is co-hosted by Code for America, Sunlight Foundation, and Open Knowledge Foundation — one of 45 events happening around the globe this weekend as part of CodeAcross. As part of a world-wide event we will focus on helping improve the way our local government works for everyone by bringing people, technology and the efforts of civic hackers in our community together.
Attention urbanists, civic hackers, government staff, developers, designers… anyone with the passion to make their city better. Join us for a half-day event to help promote transparency and innovation within our local government.
On Saturday, Feb. 22, we will be combining forces between community organizers and civic workers to brainstorm the next budget application to help better inform our citizens. Secondly, we will be drafting policy with insights from city representatives as we move towards being a model city for Open Data Policy.
Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014
1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Mojo Coworking
60 N Market St, Asheville, NC 28801
Registration information available at www.meetup.com/Code-for-Asheville.
What will we do?
1. Develop a plan of action for engaging citizens with the city budget. We will begin with scoping the project and then move into designing/building an app. This kickoff event will connect citizens with the city to develop a public application key in increasing civic understanding and engagement: the city of Asheville’s budget. Share ideas and needs to get a deeper understanding of the process and how to better communicate it with all the public. Coders and non-coders welcomed!
2. Draft an Open Data Policy for the city of Asheville. An open data policy sets the foundation for moving Asheville beyond simple government transparency. Managing data as an asset that is open, discoverable and usable creates economic opportunity, strengthens democracy and promotes efficiency and effectiveness in government. To that end, we will be crafting a draft open data policy in partnership with city of Asheville staff for consideration by city council. Policy wonks and non-wonks welcome!
3. Community brainstorm station! Additionally, there will be semi-moderated white-boarding area that will serve as an opportunity for initial information gathering for interests of the community at large, and potential hack / app ideas for the brigade to shepherd and foster. Attendees can engage as they wish at any point in the event.
Who are we?
Code for Asheville, as a Code for America Brigade, seeks to improve the way local government works for everyone by bringing people, technology and the efforts of civic hackers in our community together. To this end, Code for Asheville:
• Encourages and helps local government to adopt open data and engagement-friendly policies;
• Helps connect government and local volunteers to identify key civic technology opportunities;
• Organizes the efforts of local volunteers to create civic applications;
• Works to foster an innovation-friendly environment for public and private development of civic
technology; and
• Encourages local businesses and entrepreneurs to leverage civic technology for innovative
products and services.
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